Key facts
- Myanmar's government rejected ASEAN's call for Aung San Suu Kyi's unconditional release.
- The government stated that any full release would be in accordance with the law.
- Myanmar's foreign affairs ministry also dismissed the need for ASEAN's special envoy.
- Aung San Suu Kyi was visited by an International Committee of the Red Cross representative.
- The current ASEAN chair, the Philippines, welcomed the meeting but urged greater access to detainees.
Myanmar's military-backed government has rejected the Association of Southeast Asian Nations' (ASEAN) renewed call for the unconditional release of detained former leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The foreign affairs ministry stated that while her sentences have been commuted on humanitarian grounds, a full release would only occur in accordance with the law.
The government also dismissed the necessity of continuing with ASEAN's special envoy, indicating that its engagement with the organization would be on a case-by-case basis, particularly as Singapore prepares to take over the ASEAN chairmanship in January 2027.
This stance comes after the government allowed a representative from the International Committee of the Red Cross to visit the 81-year-old Suu Kyi, marking her first known contact with an independent international humanitarian organization since her detention. Suu Kyi is currently serving a sentence under house arrest on charges her supporters deem politically motivated.
The Philippines, the current ASEAN chair, had welcomed the meeting as a step toward dialogue but reiterated its demand for Suu Kyi's complete and unconditional release. Myanmar's leadership, under President Min Aung Hlaing, has previously dismissed ASEAN's peace plan, which aims to end hostilities and initiate dialogue, leading to Min Aung Hlaing's exclusion from top-level ASEAN meetings.